I went into this drama with very low expectations, even though I loved the whole cast prior to this drama. Something about the storyline just wasn't intriguing to me, and I was worried it was just going to be a 2014 Boys Over Flowers. Oh, how wrong I was.
There were certainly elements of the stories that rang similar; the social castes as dictated by financial worth, the spoiled rich delinquents who thought they could get away with anything because of who their parents were. But Lee Min Ho's character was so divergent from his role as Jun Pyo, it was like night and day. Furthermore, the characters of Jan Di and Eun Sang were as separate as could be as well.
The acting in this drama was definitely a pleasant surprise. There are a lot of young actors in this drama, and honestly I think that every one did a rather remarkable job, considering. The villains were all exceedingly nuanced, so it was hard to hate any of them for any long period of time, because you ended up just feeling so sorry for them the next moment.
I am not a person who typically goes for the bad boy, but I found myself irrevocably fallen for Young Do, and I spent the entire drama wincing at his pain and his inability to just accept the emotions he was feeling. It was wonderful watching him grow from this hurt little boy who only knew how to inflict pain on others to someone who actually wanted to try and protect something.
There wasn't much that I would change about this drama if I could, while it wasn't perfect, it still was enjoyable and a lot of fun to grow up with the characters. The romance was incredible, and most of the kiss scenes were fairly phenomenal. I was worried that Park Shin Hye's fairly wall-like kissing would claim the kiss scenes this drama, but that was not the case for the most part.
All in all, a more than decent drama and well worth the hours to put into it. Extremely satisfying for romance and high school drama fans alike.
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STORY
BOF type of story. The drama itself was like Korean version of Gossip Girl. The Heirs was full of cliches, which we are used to in k-dramaland. Sometimes I don't mind them as they are shown from different perspectives, but here, they were just cliches. But sometimes you just need to watch these types of dramas to relax :)
ACTING/CAST
I started to watch this drama because of Park Shin Hye. I saw, probably, most of her dramas and I was really anticipating this one. But funny thing is that while watching this drama I came to dislike her. I realized that her acting is quite bad and actually her roles are all the same. There is no versaity at all.
As for Lee Min Ho, even though I watched most of his dramas, I am not his fan at al. I started to watch this drama despite him being in it. I confirmed my opinion that he is seriously over-rated, he is not even handsome, in my view. As for the relationship between him and PSH, I could not care less. I was more interested in the side story lines.
I knew Kim Woo Bin before watching Heirs, but thanks to this drama I became his hardcore fan. He stole the spotlight in this drama. As many people said, I also preferred Choi Young Do, but, well, I am biased. I was really glad that he did not end up with PSH because he is too good for her.
I loved the storyline between Choi Jin Hyuk and Im Ju Eun. I hoped that their story could be the main one. They had great chemistry together and I hoped that they would have a happy ending...
I also enjoyed the Krystla-Min Hyuk couple. They were really cute. Also loved the father-son relationship in Yoon family.
I also loved my beloved Kang Haneul here, but I like him everywhere.
And lastly I must mention the relationship between Eun Sang's mum and Tan's mum. They were amazing. And after watching Kim Seung Ryong on RM, I became her fan :D
So overall, the cast was really good except for the main leads - both of them are soooooo overrated.
MUSIC
OST was really good. Normal SBS standard.
OVERALL
It was an average cliche drama, but with a good cast. If not for the story, watch it for Kim Woo Bin, he is surely becoming one of the Top actors.
I also have to give Heirs one more plus point. Thanks to this drama, I discovered RM. So thank you very much!!!
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Not worth the hype
I was actually looking forward to this. It had such a huge star cast. I am writing this review several years after I watched it and a lot of the actors went to give some awesome performances elsewhere, but not here. It was so hyped up because it was Lee Minho as well as all the other cast. I think the rating shown here for this drama was made from just purely Lee Minho fans. Let me just say that I don't hate Lee Minho, I have enjoyed most of his other dramas like City Hunter, Personal Taste, etc. But not even having his beautiful face along with Park Hyung Sik and Kim Woo Bin could save it. I was also not a huge fan of Park Shin Hye's acting at this point in time...she has definitely improved since. I had hoped Lee Minho would be able to app up the chemistry with her and make it a good watch.BUT OMG how a drama can get this bad I do not know. Plot sucked. It was like for all the progress kdramas made at the time just regressed to an overused plot of several different drams stuffed into one...like someone cut up the plots of different dramas and tried to make a drama out of it, just so they could have all these stars in it.
The acting by the leads and some of the secondary wasn't great. I have seen dramas where older actors play teenagers and a lot of times it looks a little odd but doesn't affect the tone of the drama. But sadly that was not the case, they all looked too old for school which made it weird. They could set it at uni and it may have been easier to believe.
There was some chemistry between the leads but the kissing scene was so bad that I wanted to throw something at the screen. There were no side characters that could have saved this...not even Park Hyung-sik with his comic scenes. Though I must say the frenemies scenes of Kim Tan and Choi Young Do (played by Lee Minho and Kim Woo Bin) were probably the only thing I enjoyed about this drama.
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As for the bad stuff:
1. Over stereotyped Americans. Seriously, this was borderline offensive (and that's me being nice).
2. Disgusting English that killed the character. Every time Lee Min Ho spoke in English, I watched his character die right in front of my eyes. I'm just saying that if the English portions were that essential to the story, then work on the pronunciation, or just remove it all together, the plot in America was very useless and could have been altered.
3. Horrible/repetitive OST. I'm convinced that this OST has only 2 songs and both of which are horrible. Almost every other minute we hear "love is the moment" and every time it came up, I just wanted to punch a hole through my computer.
4. High school setting made no sense because they look old and they're meant to be playing 17-18 y/os. Yet they're engaged while living in America, doing drugs, and spending the night with random women while also attending what I'm pretty sure is a college that has like 10 students. He's 17 whilst he's in America, it makes no sense.
5. Lee Minho's character was as bland and disgusting as his ratty sweaters. His character had no personality and I hated it. He's a great actor, I think he just hated this role/didn't care for his character.
6. The rich kid idea was overdone/done poorly. They're rich spoiled high school students so it kind of does make sense that they're spoiled but they all acted like they owned major businesses when it's just their parents who are big and important people. This might just be a complaint based on my own personal preferences since I hate spoiled brats.
7. The main couple doesn't know how to do anything, they're bad at committing to their decisions and it pissed me off. I'm not going to say much on this because it'll spoil it but I truly got aggravated with the main couple's stubbornness way more than I usually would with a cheesy romance drama.
8. Park Shin Hye: UGH I hated how she played her character and I hated her character, then again I think I just hate her acting because I didn’t like her much in You're Beautiful or any other drama I've seen her in. She plays every role the same way, the stupid girl that is so easily pushed and her acting makes it seem like she has no feelings for any of the male leads, all her characters are clueless and bland and annoying and I really hate it.
Good stuff:
1. Park Hyung Shik is adorable and I love him.
2. Krystal's side story was actually super cute. As well as her character, along with Kim Woo Bin's character, were the only two with actual character development. They became the only characters I really cared about (except Park Hyung Shik but that's just because he's super cute in this drama and he's not really a major character).
3. Literally nothing else, this drama is pure trash yet very addicting and entertaining.
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What a waste of time.
Even Lee Min-ho couldn't carry this show on his incredibly talented, exhausted, typecast backside.The breeding pair's meet cute in Hollywood was alright, but the show fell apart the minute they returned to Korea. The only time the FL worked proactively toward a concrete goal was during that first story arc. After that she was only capable of reacting to things that happened to her. Through crying.
In stark contrast to shows like Boys Over Flowers and Cinderella and the Four Princes, Heirs' poor female lead doesn't make the gradual switch from an excitable ball of infinite optimism to a damp rag. Cha Eun-Sang starts off as a damp rag and only gets sadder and damper as the show progresses. It just gets tiring over time.
Sometimes a show with weak leads are carried by funny or charming side characters. That is not the case here. The schoolkids are the usual group of identical pop idols, released from the same vat of Retinol they were brewed from and given the order to "act cute." The older actors are obviously only there to get a paycheck.
Like a lot of shows of its kind, Heirs spends a lot of time with the characters' gaudy and obnoxious family members. These meandering plotlines completely bogged down the show's very thin plot.
Don't bother.
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I think the cast was great. I´ve watched Park Shin Hye and Lee Min Ho before and I like them both. I absolutely hated Kim Woo Bin in the beginning, but then I just kinda changed my mind. I like him too. The characters were actually really complete.
I like the music with a bit of english. It was ok, nothing remarkable. If someone were to play a song from Heirs I probably wouldn't notice it.
Overall I think they did an okay job. This drama could defiantly could have been better with a little more effort. I think those who have watched Boys Over Flowers will be a bit disappointed when they´ve completed this drama. But you should definitely give it a try! It´s not that bad.
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first of all it must be viewed in its own genre, yes, the story is repetitive, full of cliches, dragging at times, but the Cast and characters were superb and covered for the story lines shortcomings.
CAST and Characters (9.5/10)
- this is a thing that made this drama diffident and unique when it comes to rich boy/poor girl/ second lead triangle, there is no misunderstandings that distance the main couple from each other but real outside pressure and problems, they communicated well, talked things, explained themselves, were decisive and blunt, especially the female lead Cha Eun Sang: she didn't give Yong Do any hopes, didn't act pathetic or weak, she was strong, brave, honest and decisive even from the very start when Kim Tan started liking her in L.A, she ignored it all and did the right thing, which is considering it a dream, just a dream.
Kim Tan as well, though he is "Too Perfect" but was genuine and expressed emotions in an honest lovely way. Kim Woo Bin (Yong Do) as a character and actor was the greatest, you wouldn't think he will really hurt her, but he did many times, you wouldn't think he will chase her and express his love over and over, but he did despite his pride and dangerous personality, he understood his own feelings very well, he knew what he wanted from her and couldn't settle for less, also his acting is magnificent and I was more impressed with him than I was even before he is becoming the top of my young Korean actors list for his skills as an actor regardless of the way he looks. the supporting cast were great as well, the Sunbai, Kim Tan Mom and her friend/ maid Ahjumma. the only character I hated was Lee Esther (Yoo Rachel mother). the writer did a great Job in creating a friends/ family. work place characters, each of them was unique and memorable, and made the show very enjoyable for me.
Music and OST (9.5/10):
apart from &"Moment" I loved the OST, great music, great songs, especially "Love is .." by Bromance. the problem with Moment was the times they used it in, but still as a song it was what the show needs: memorable and touching.
Story (5/10)
the story itself was average and full of cliches', but was carried well and strengthened by the characters and the tiny funny/ romantic/ angry moments between the 3 leads as well as their interaction with each other.
Overall, I really loved it, after watching many intense thriller, suspense, mystery drama I needed something light that touches my heart and absorbs me, and The Heirs did it for me. Maybe, just Maybe, if I watched it in a different state of mind I wouldn't enjoy it as much, but Hey, Kim Woo Bin is a lead! so to hell with everything else.
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In retrospect, there were some good moments, humorous times, gorgeous shots, and even a few character developments that were touching and honest. But the story was clichéd to the extreme and full of recycled plot(s) (both from other similar shows and from itself...) and to be really honest here I was bored most of the time.
So, why did I keep on watching until the bitter end? I just kept expecting it to get better. I'm a little blown away that Kim Eun Sook actually penned this to the point where I'm actually considering the possibly that she has an intern who secretly wrote a majority of the scenes. I know writers can have "bad days" so to speak but I'm fairly confident that Kim Eun Sook has established a solid reputation and career off of having well plotted and witty dramas (that can, at times--admittedly--be a bit dull) but the long drawn out scenes of characters just staring at each other that happened over and over again (while pretty at first) where not only a waste of screen time but a huge waste of the viewer's time as well.
One of the only things that remained consistent with Kim Eun Sook's previous works was her spot on perfect hero Kim Tan (or "flawless namja" as my friend and I like to call him). If there is one thing that I've always been impressed with in Kim Eun Sook's shows, it's how amazingly perfect all of her leading men tend to be (even the ones that also make you want to punch them in the face).
But anyway, I don't understand the hype for Heirs and I certainly can't relate or agree with anyone who enjoyed this drama (though to each his/her own). I CAN say that I'm living in South Korea right now (at the time of this review) and it's extremely popular here so it must have done something right. I think it all boils down to:
Pros: Great cast, cute character interactions
Cons: poor plot, long boring scenes, humorously-cliché, eye-roll inducing moments, very little character development (exception: Yong-do and Kim Tan's mom), HORRIBLE SOUNDTRACK (?love is the mooooment?), cheesy dialogue, and unnecessary angst.
Watch at your own risk.
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I fell in love with lee min ho.Yeah it was a bit difficult to watch it with English subtitles for me. I wish i could underground Korean language. ???? I fell in love with kdramas. ?
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What did I just watch?
When I finished the Heirs the first thing I said to myself was what did I just watch? This was such an overrated drama. It was ridiculous. I watched this because of Lee Min Ho but I gave up at episode 5. I fast forwarded through the rest of the episodes and the later episodes only dragged and got worse. This drama never picked up the pace or got better like ??!Story: Here's how I'll summarize this story:
How many cliches would you like to stuff in this--
Author: yes.
Acting/Cast: Park Shin Hye and her typical role as the pathetic poor girl whose main hobby is sobbing and getting comfort from the main guy...
Music: Maybe it would have been better without any music, ha.
Rewatch Value: Don't even mention it.
Overall Value: This is so overrated, don't watch it. What a waste of time. Ridiculous.
The reason I gave this a 4 because I don't give any dramas that I've finished below a 4 since I don't really know what the difference between a 2 rating and a 4 rating anymore lol.
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What Was This Drama About?
I started this drama back when DramaFever existed and it was on air. I'd wait the week for DF to get it and would watch. I could remember the first episode clear as day and only bits of the second episode. At first, I thought I had watched the whole drama and my aging mind didn't remember. I looked back at my notes (aka, my old school K-Drama tumblr), and realized that I had stopped because I couldn't get through it. Painfully finishing this drama, I now realize why.The story ... what even was the story? With a title like "The Heirs", you'd think you'd get some sort of family or conglomerate battle for owner of the company when Appa kicks the bucket. IF NOT THAT, than a conglomerate war where they two mains started as BFFs (or lovers), but could no longer be because their companies were at war for the top. You get absolutely NONE of that. Instead, you get a bunch of angsty teens fighting each other for each other in a weird "coming of age" type story, but it even failed at that. On top of all of that, they tried covering all of these characters, but then lost them by trying to go back to others, which leads to a terrible ending of explaining what happened to each character, in a very poor manner.
I don't have much to say about the cast. I watched it for Lee Min Ho because I was just coming off of the Boys over Flowers high at the time. To me, the drama is so terrible, the acting matches it, so it could be that the acting is great because for what terrible writing was fed, the actors delivered it perfectly? I didn't feel the chemistry between Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye at all. The relationship was awkward and forced, almost. Kim Woo Bin and Kim Ji Won definitely deliver as the antagonists. As terrible as the writing was, you still wanted to strangle their characters.
The music was surprisingly catchy. I did find myself humming along when the intro came on, sang along when the dramatic pauses happened, and jammed out when the ending came. The intro reminded me of an early 90's sitcom.
There is zero rewatch value for me. The whole thing was absolutely painful to get through. Knowing that I had tried to get it through it one time and couldn't, definitely solidifies the no rewatch.
Overall, for me, it was a big pile of fluff. There was no substance. I was not given a reason to relate or fall in love with the characters because the drama was going everywhere, but nowhere at the same time. There wasn't a strong story, the love triangle was poor and the main protagonists relationship was even worse.
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